Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan

Not to be confused with Kurdistan Democratic Party (Iran).

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI; Kurdish: حیزبی دێموکراتی کوردستانی ئێران, romanized: Hizbi Dêmukrati Kurdıstani Êran, HDKA; Persian: حزب دموکرات کردستان ایران, romanized: Ḥezb-e Demokrāt-e Kordestān-e Īrān), also known as the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), is an armed leftist separatist movement of Kurds, exiled in northern Iraq with branch offices in Europe.^[26] It is banned in Iran and thus not able to operate openly.^[27] The group calls for either separatism in Iran or a federal system.^[28][29][16]

Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan Hizbi Dêmokrati Kurdıstani Êran
Secretary-General	Mustefa Hicri
Founder	Qazi Mehemed
Founded	16 August 1945; 79 years ago (1945-08-16)
Split from	Tudeh Party of Iran[1]
Headquarters	Koye, Iraqi Kurdistan Democrat Castle (closed since September 2023)[2] Mehabad, Iran (historic)
Membership (2008)	1,200[3]
Ideology	Kurdish separatism[4] Democratic socialism[4] Social democracy[4] Progressivism[4] Secularism[5] Historic: Anti-imperialism[6] Conservative traditionalism[7][verification needed]
Political position	Centre-left[8] Historic: Left-wing[9]
National affiliation	Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran (2005–present) National Council of Resistance of Iran (1981–1985)[10] United Front of Progressive Parties (1946–1948)[11]
International affiliation	Socialist International (Consultative member) Progressive Alliance Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
Website
pdki.org
Politics of Iran Political parties Elections

Leaders	Qazi Mehemed (1940s)[12]
Dates of operation	1945–1946 1966–1967 1977–1978[13] 1979–1996 2016–present
Active regions	Iraqi Kurdistan; Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan Provinces in Iran
Size	12,750 infantry and cavalry (1946 estimate)[12] 10,000–25,000 (1979–1983 estimate)[14] 7,000–10,000 regulars plus 14,000–20,000 part-time guerillas (1980 estimate)[15] 12,000 Peshmergas along with 60,000 armed peasants (1982 estimate)[16] 1,500 (1996 estimate)[13] 1,200–1,800 (2008 estimate)[3]
Allies	Soviet Union (1945–1991)[17] Iraq (1980–1988)[18] Non-state allies: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan[14][19] Komala (1982−1984;[20] since 2012)[21] People's Mujahedin (1981–1985)[10] Fedai Guerrillas (1979–1981)[22] Tudeh Party (1940s–1950s)[23]
Opponents	Imperial State of Iran (1945–1979) Islamic Republic of Iran (1979−present) Non-state opponents: Komele (1984−1991)[24] PKK (sometimes)[25]

Since 1979, KDPI has waged a persistent guerrilla war against Iran.^[26] This included the 1979–1983 Kurdish insurgency, its 1989–1996 insurgency and recent clashes in 2016. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials have called the party a terrorist organization.^[30] Hyeran Jo of Texas A&M University classifies KDPI as "compliant rebels", i.e. rebels that kill fewer than 100 and refrain from killing for more than half of their operating years. According to Jo, in order to gain domestic and international legitimacy, the KDPI denounces violence against civilians, claiming commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Geneva Convention Article 3, and as of 2007 is one of the signatories to the Geneva Call's ban on anti-personnel mines.^[31]

History

Early years

Qazi Mehemed founded the PDKI in Mehabad, Iran, on 16 August 1945.^[32] On 22 January 1946, Qazi Mehemed declared a Kurdish Republic of Kurdistan, of which he formally became president. The Republic lasted less than a year: after the USSR retreated from the area, the Imperial Iranian army first reclaimed Iranian Azerbaijan, followed by Mehabad on 15 December 1946.^[33] After the fall of the Republic, many of the PDKI leaders were arrested and executed, effectively ending the party.^[34]

Against Unification of Iran

The PDKI cooperated with the Tudeh party and saw a short revival under the anti-Shah administration of Mohammad Mosaddegh (1951–53), but this ended after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi took full control again in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état. In 1958, the PDKI was on the verge of unifying with the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), but was then dismantled by the SAVAK secret police. The remains of the PDKI continued to support the KDP, but this changed as the Shah started aiding the KDP, which fought against the Iraqi regime that had overthrown the royal Hashemite dynasty. In return for the Shah's aid, the KDP decreased its support for the PDKI.^[35]

The PDKI reorganised itself, marginalising its pro-KDP leader Abdullah Ishaqi (also known as Ehmed Tewfiq), adding new Communist and nationalist members, and forming the Revolutionary Committee to continue the struggle against the Iranian regime. The Committee began an unsuccessful revolution in March 1967, ending after 18 months.^[32][34][35]

After reforms by a new leader, Abdurreman Qasımlo, the PDKI fought alongside Islamic and Marxist movements against the Shah, culminating in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.^[36][35] Khomeini's new Islamic Republic, however, refused the Kurdish demands, suppressing the PDKI and other Kurdish parties. The PDKI continued its activities in exile, hoping to achieve "Kurdish national rights within a Democratic Federal Republic of Iran".^[34]

Against the Islamic Republic

In January 1981, Iraq supported the party in the Iranian cities of Nowdesheh and Qasr-e Shirin and provided weapons supplies to the PKDI.^[37] This move was made so as the party stops Tehran from using the Tehran-Baghdad highway. The PKDI hoped as well to establish a level of autonomy in the area. However, the Iranian forces staged a series of debilitating attacks against the KDPI, leaving them a "marginal military factor during much of the Iran–Iraq War".^[37]

In 1997, the party's call for abstaining the presidential election remained largely ignored by Kurdish citizens in Iran and amid a high turnout in Kurdistan Province, a large number voted for Mohammad Khatami.^[38]

In 2016, the organization announced it was reviving its armed struggle following death of Farinaz Khosravani and subsequent Mahabad riots.^[39]

Mykonos restaurant assassinations

Sadıq Şerefqendi's murder became an international incident between Germany and Iran. On 17 September 1992, PDKI leaders Sadegh Sharafkandi, Fettah Abduli, Humayûn Erdelan and their translator Nûri Dêkurdi were assassinated at the Mykonos Greek restaurant in Berlin, Germany.^[40] In the Mykonos trial, the courts found Kazem Darabi, an Iranian national who worked as a grocer in Berlin, and Lebanese Abbas Rhayel, guilty of murder and sentenced them to life in prison. Two other Lebanese, Youssef Amin and Mohamed Atris, were convicted of being accessories to murder. In its 10 April 1997 ruling, the court issued an international arrest warrant for Iranian intelligence minister Hojjat al-Islam Ali Fallahian^[41] after declaring that the assassination had been ordered by him with knowledge of Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ayatollah Rafsanjani.^[42]

Vienna assassination

On 13 July 1989, the then PDKI leader Abdurreman Qasımlo arrived in Vienna with his delegation to have talks with Iranian diplomats regarding the terms of reconciliation between the central government in Tehran and the Kurds. Those were not the only talks with Iran held in Vienna. After they entered the conference hall and the talks started, the Iranian "diplomats" took out automatic weapons and murdered all of the members of the Kurdish delegation, including Abdurrehman Qasımlo.^[43]

2016 bomb attack

The year 2016 an Iranian agent had planted a bomb near the Castle which led to 6 KDP and KDPI members getting killed.

2018 missile attack on the Democrat Castle

On the 8th September 2018 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force launched seven Fateh 110 missiles at the Democrat Castle while a meeting was underway. The missiles got a direct hit on where the meeting was taking place at the Democrat Castle killing a total of 18 KDP and KDPI members. 50 KDP/KDPI members were injured, including KDP leaders Xalıd Ezizi and Mustefa Mewlûdi. A number of important members and commanders were killed, including Mehemed Hesenpûr, Nesrin Hedad and Rehman Piroti.

2022 Attack on the Rojhelat primary school and the September - October attacks

2022 the IRGC and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps send one Ballistic missile and several drones which attacked a school at Azadi Settlement and the missile nearly hit the school but instead got a hit beside the school which killed 17 teachers and parents and thereafter killing 1 child. After the attacks on the school Iranian helicopters was flying around the area and threw down triangle spikes which made it hard for cars to drive between the school, Azadi Settlement, Amiriya Settlement and Democrat Castle. Thereafter on September 28 the U.S that also had shot down a Qods - Mohajer-6 drone with a F-15 after it posed a threat to U.S. forces in the area. Some similar continued in the coming days, and casualties had increased to 18 deaths and 62 injuries on October 4. On November 14, Iranian airstrikes hit on the Democrat Castle operating in Iraqi Kurdistan continued, killing at least two people and injuring 10 other KDPI members. With these attacks 72 Kurdish and KDPI members getting injured and 37 Kurdish and KDPI members getting killed.

PDKI congresses

The PDKI has held fifteen congresses. These occurred in 1945, 1964, 1973, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2018.^[44]

During the 20th Congress of the Socialist International, held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City (9–11 September 1996), the PDKI was given the status of observer member. In 2005, the PDKI's membership was elevated to consultative status.

Secretaries-General

• Qazi Mehemed (1945–1947)
• Ehmed Tewfiq (1947–1973)
• Abdurrehman Qasımlo (1973–1989)
• Sadıq Şerefkendi (1989–1992)
• Abdullah Hesenzade (1992–2004)^[45]
• Mustefa Hicri (2004–)

Military wing

PDKI separatist fighters(2013)

The military wing of the PDKI is named PDKI Pêşmerge.

Reunity

Both wings of PDKI and PDK reunited on August 21, 2022 and build again Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

New leading team

The leading team until the joint Congress calls Executive Board. This board has 12 members leading by Mustefa Hicri. The leading team abroad or Executive Board Abroad has 6 members who are: Köstan Gadani, Azad Ezizi, Mehemed Resûl Kerimi, Aso Salıh, Kawe Ebdeli and Rehim Mehemedzade.

References

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2. Andreas Wenger; Alex Wilner (2012). Deterring Terrorism: Theory and Practice. Stanford University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-8047-8347-7.
3. Iran Defence and Security Report, Including 5-Year Industry Forecasts, Business Monitor International, 2008 [Q1], archived from the original on 2017-02-28, retrieved 2017-02-27
4. Neuberger, Benyamin (2014). Bengio, Ofra (ed.). Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland. University Of Texas Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-292-75813-1.
5. Monshipouri, Mahmood (2008). "Kurds". Iran Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Islamic Republic. Vol. 1. Greenwood Press. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-313-34163-2.
6. David McDowall (1992). The Kurds: A Nation Denied. Minority Rights Group. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-873194-30-0. The KDPI (which had moved to the left in the meantime) adopted an anti-imperialist position, declaring their opposition to the Shah's regime...
7. Abbas Valli (2014). Kurds and the State in Iran: The Making of Kurdish Identity. I.B.Tauris. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-78076-823-6.
8. Abdulla Hawez (7 July 2016). "Iranian Kurds Are Rising Up Against the Mullahs". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
9. Rodolfo Stavenhagen (2016). Ethnic Conflicts and the Nation-State. Springer. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-349-25014-1.
10. Mark Edmond Clark (2016). "An Analysis of the Role of the Iranian Diaspora in the Financial Support System of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq". In David Gold (ed.). Terrornomics. Routledge. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-1-317-04590-8.
11. Abrahamian, Ervand (1982). Iran Between Two Revolutions. Princeton University Press. pp. 301. ISBN 978-0-691-10134-7.
12. Michael G. Lortz (2005). "The Kurdish Warrior Tradition and the Importance of the Peshmerga". Willing to Face Death: A History of Kurdish Military Forces - the Peshmerga - from the Ottoman Empire to Present-day Iraq (M.A.). Florida State University Libraries. p. 27.
13. Hiro, Dilip (2013). "Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran". A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Middle East. Interlink Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62371-033-0.
14. Jeffrey S. Dixon; Meredith Reid Sarkees (2015). "INTRA-STATE WAR #816: Anti-Khomeini Coalition War of 1979 to 1983". A Guide to Intra-state Wars: An Examination of Civil, Regional, and Intercommunal Wars, 1816-2014. SAGE Publications. pp. 384–386. ISBN 978-1-5063-1798-4.
15. Razoux, Pierre (2015). The Iran-Iraq War. Harvard University Press. Appendix E: Armed Opposition. ISBN 978-0-674-91571-8.
16. Alex Peter Schmid; A. J. Jongman (2005). "Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran". Political terrorism: a new guide to actors, authors, concepts, data bases, theories, & literature. Transaction Publishers. p. 579. ISBN 978-1-4128-0469-1.
17. Belgin San-Akca (2016). States in Disguise: Causes of State Support for Rebel. Oxford University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-19-025090-4. For example, the Soviet Union supported the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), first against the shah's regime in Iran and then against the religious revolutionary regime. Throughout the Cold War period, the Soviet funds were regularly channeled to the KDPI.
18. Entessar, Nader (2010). Kurdish Politics in the Middle East. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7391-4039-0. OCLC 430736528. Throughout much of the 1980s, the KDPI received aid from the Ba'thi regime of Saddam Hussein, but Ghassemlou broke with Baghdad in 1988 after Iraq used chemical weapons against Kurds in Halabja and then forced Kurdish villagers to...
19. David Romano (2006). The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity. Cambridge University Press. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-521-68426-2. The Iraqi PUK and Iranian KDPI have often assisted each other, and roughly 5,000 Kurdish volunteers from Turkey went to Iran to fight Khomeini's government forces in 1979.
20. Andrew Duncan (2000). "Iran". Trouble Spots: The World Atlas of Strategic Information. Sutton. ISBN 978-0-7509-2171-8. The KDPI and Komala agreed to cooperate in late 1982 and enjoyed two years of military success, but when they split...
21. Joseph R. Rudolph Jr. (2015). Encyclopedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts, 2nd Edition [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 490. ISBN 978-1-61069-553-4. Moreover, in August 2012, the KDPI and the Komala, now led by Abdullah Mohtadi, reached a strategic agreement calling for federalism in Iran to undo the national oppression suffered by the Kurds.
22. Zabir, Sepehr (2012). Iran Since the Revolution (RLE Iran D). Taylor & Francis. pp. 108–110. ISBN 978-1-136-83300-7.
23. Michael M. Gunter (2010). Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Scarecrow Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-8108-7507-4. During the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) cooperated closely with the Tudeh, or Iranian Communist Party.
24. Hussein Tahiri (2007). The Structure of Kurdish Society and the Struggle for a Kurdish State. Bibliotheca Iranica: Kurdish studies series. Vol. 8. Mazda Publications. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-56859-193-3. Between 1984 and 1991, the KDPI and Komala fought each other vigorously.
25. It is banned in Iran and thus not able to operate openly.Hajir Sharifi. "PKK- PDKI clash exposes decades of cold war". Rudaw. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
26. Buchta, Wilfried (2000), Who rules Iran?: the structure of power in the Islamic Republic, Washington DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, pp. 102, 104, ISBN 978-0-944029-39-8
27. United Kingdom: Home Office, Country Information and Guidance - Iran: Kurds and Kurdish political groups, July 2016, Version 2.0, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/578f67c34.html [accessed 18 March 2017]
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29. "Freedom House", Freedom in the World 2011: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011, p. 321, ISBN 978-1-4422-0996-1
30. Golnaz Esfandiari (29 June 2016). "Explainer: What's Behind Sudden Clashes In Northwestern Iran?". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
31. Hyeran Jo (2015). Compliant Rebels: Rebel Groups and International Law in World Politics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-1-107-11004-5.
32. Ghassemlou, A.R. (1993). "Kurdistan in Iran". In Gérard Chaliand (ed.). A People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan. London: Zed Books. pp. 106–118. ISBN 978-1-85649-194-5.
33. McDowall, David (2004). "Tribe or ethnicity? The Mahabad Republic". A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition. Vol. 3rd. I.B.Tauris. pp. 240–241. ISBN 978-1-85043-416-0.
34. Tamadonfar, Mehran (2015). "Civil Society in Iranian Political Life". Islamic Law and Governance in Contemporary Iran: Transcending Islam for Social, Economic, and Political Order. Lexington Books. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-4985-0757-8.
35. McDowall, David (2004). "Iran: Creating a national movement". A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition. Vol. 3rd. I.B.Tauris. pp. 249–254. ISBN 978-1-85043-416-0.
36. "Praguer Ghassemlou". Yekta Uzunoglu. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
37. Entessar, Nader. "The Kurdish Factor in Iran-Iraq Relations". The Middle East Institute. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
38. Roger Howard (2004). Iran in Crisis?: The Future of the Revolutionary Regime and the US Response. Indiana Series in Middle East Studies. Zed Books. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-84277-475-5.
39. Return to Arms: Hadaka. 26 Apr 2017. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
40. "Hostage - 1". Yekta Uzunoglu. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
41. Melman, Yossi (2008-04-02). "Israel fails to prevent Germany freeing Iranian". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
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43. "Hostage - 4". Yekta Uzunoglu. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
44. "About". Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
45. Michael M. Gunter (2010). Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Scarecrow Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-8108-7507-4.

External links

• The PDKI English language homepage